The Disguiser 伪装者 - Episode 6 (Recap)

This episode is for JoAnne, because there is almost nothing else but Jin Dong in it. Well, we also get to know something about his big sister and that she treats him like a little boy still ... she is damn scary. That said, I'm glad to see that overall, Ming Lou seems on top of things, and that Liang does not have enough power to hurt him ... I hope forever. JoAnne: I would even go up against Killer Wang for Ming Lou... but maybe not up against his sister.dewaanifordrama: Hi there. JoAnne and Kakashi and I were having so much fun with Nirvana in Fire recaps, that I've joined this party too. Jin Dong is awesome in this! And man, his sister is super scary.

Episode 6

Who should she send to test out Ming Lou? Wang Man Chun asks. "Whoever you want to disappear", Liang answers with his creepy smile. "I really want to send you", she replies. He just laughs - and then reminds her that Division 76 is theirs and not the Japanese... but it will depend on both their efforts whether they can keep it. So he is saying "let's be allies", right? How does she get away with talking like that to her boss?Liang creeps me out! Though I do like a smart bad guy. The stupid ones aren't really any fun.

Somewhere else in Shanghai, Big Sis Ming gets home. A letter from the shipping company informs her that two boxes of her cargo, full of medical supplies, are held back by customs (cause it's illegal to import medical supplies, it seems!). She calls the manager of the shipping company, but it seems his hands are bound (by fear, mainly). She needs a special approval from the Special Committee. And that shouldn't be a problem for her, right? With her brother in charge? What, she doesn't know and hasn't seen it in the newspaper? (Okay, honestly? I would be pissed as well. And oh boy, is Ming Jing pissed!) Yeah, Ming Lou, not your brightest move.
Yeah, why did he do it?! I think he might be mortally afraid of his sis... Yeah, it seems like something he would have calculated into his plans, his sister finding out and all. Maybe it is part of a larger plan? Also, what is the deal with this family and their spying hijinks. Must be in the DNA.

At the Salon, Wang Man Chun is obviously bored. After dazzling everyone with his superior economical knowledge, Ming Lou joins her on the sofa. He briefly wonders why she is at a gathering like this (she hates them), but she has a good answer: it's to be in his vicinity. Smoooooooth. He sweet-talks right back, but then excuses himself to go to the restroom. Time for the test! She signals some guy to follow Ming. The guy approaches him when he is washing his hands, saying he was sent by some military chief. Ming is clearly dismissive, but the guy won't stop talking to him, pretending he knows him ... so Ming slits his throat, with a lens from his glasses. HOLY SHIT.Even more in love.Did that seem like not the smoothest spy test ever? They should have picked a smarter guy.

Ah Cheng comes in, worried for his bro - who is calmly washing the lens and then puts it back in. Still holy shit. I seriously didn't expect him to be that cold blooded! He also comments that he is a bit out of practice. This is obviously Wang Man Chun's doing, he says, and then leaves the clean up to Ah Cheng. He goes back into the living room and tells Man Chun that he won't object if she needs to screen him; but at least have the decency to send a human, not a dog. If she does not know her enemy before she starts a war, she will lose. She quickly glances to the door but no, your guy is definitely not coming back. It seems Liang knew that. My guy is no joke, apparently.Cuddly teddy bear with razor sharp claws perhaps? Maybe it's not such a coincidence that Wang Man Chun is such a cold blooded killer if Ming Lou is her shifu/teacher.

Her uncle comes over to find out what they are talking about, calling Man Chun their family's "little wild pony" when Lou says she's apologizing to him. The only one who can hold onto her rein is Ming Lou. Ah, if Bis Sister hadn't objected back then, they definitely would have ... "definitely would have what?", Ming Jing repeats, who is entering the room like a queen, with a very worried Ah Cheng right behind her. Wow, she's angry. Uncle Wang tries to calm the situation, saying a lot of time has passed, why does she not take a seat, why don't they talk? I was flabbergasted by her behavior at what is, after all, a business function - not a family party - but man, did we learn a lot!Crap. She's on a crazy possessive furious intense scary side.

But she cannot and will not forgive. She is like a Fury impersonated and she tells the Wangs that they are mortal enemies and that they will not manage to bring her or the Ming family business down that easily. I don't understand why she puts two bullets on the table, but I'm sure that will be explained. She then turns to Ming Lou and sweetly asks him how long he has been back. "More than a mon..." and SLAP, in front of everybody, as if he were a little boy.Oh no you did NOT. Wow! Man... Killer Wang wants blood now, doesn't she?One minute slitting a guy's throat with his specs, the next being slapped by his sister. This family has some issues I think.

Wang Man Chun speaks up (she has courage!), telling Ming Jing to discipline her brother at home, not where she is a guest! Ming Jing turns to her brother and says: have you heard? You better come home. If you don't, you can change your family name to Wang. Wang Man Chun interrupts again (now that's just stupid) and Ming Jing turns to her once again, to tell her she is just a chapter in his and in the Ming family book. Even if his interest in her returned and she would become another chapter, she would never ever be allowed to touch his bed. Wow, she made Man Chun cry... and wow, she is offensive. I sort of don't like her, Kakashi. I'm sure we'll be given reasons to understand her, but right now...Yeah, I don't like her much either right now.

Once Big Sis has swept out, Ming Lou apologizes for causing this ruckus because he didn't go to see his sister right after he came back to Shanghai, taking all the blame for the incident and asking for forgiveness for his hot tempered sister. Normalcy returns pretty quickly, but Ming has eyes for Man Chun only. He takes her by the arm and leads her to the side, where he sits her down at the bar. She looks dazed and miserable. He dries her tears with his handkerchief. He will slowly reason with his sister, he promises her - but before he can go home, he wants a meeting with her and Commissioner Liang, as the Vice Chairman of the Special Committee.Slowly reason with her? To what end? So they can get back together? Is he stringing her along? He hasn't seemed actively interested, to me. More like a combo of nostalgia and wanting to keep her appeased so she doesn't screw things up for him currently.I actually feel sorry for Wang Man Chun. She really seems to kind of like Ming Lou. I think everyone needs some therapy in this situation.

Ah Cheng goes and picks Liang up and they chat a little bit about sons and families, being all smiles and friendliness. I wonder how long that will last... At the office, Ming Lou makes Liang and Miss Wang wait outside ... or rather, he makes them witness how he deals with people who break rules. He has the son of a high-level official dragged away, one the Japanese did not punish enough. Once Ah Cheng has called them inside, Ming Lou lets them wait some more, dealing with other people in the room. Liang is visibly uncomfortable. I love how he works. And his face. But mostly how he works.
And I'm a bit afraid of him. Yeah, those claws are out right now. He's pretty dang sexy in that uniform. Jo, I can totally understand the appeal.

Then, Ming Lou finally turns his attention to Liang and Wang. He hands them a list of assassinations, telling them that within a month, the new government has lost 21 officials. That's almost one death a day. Liang gets up, saying they're trying their best and have even executed 45 anti-Japanese prisoners as revenge. "Revenge is just a method, not a goal", says Ming Lou. The goal is to effectively control assassination. And did Liang know, among the 45 he had killed, there was a 14 year old girl who sold flowers. They killed her without cause. Also, he noticed that on the list of 45 people, 18 belonged to the government Liang worked for before. Looks like a personal vendetta indeed. In the future, he wants no such revenge killing lists anymore, Ming Lou adds. I knew it. I knew that guy was just bad through and through.How many identities does Ming Lou have? Friendly banker, super intense secret service guy, and then underground resistance leader? I like him.

As for Wang Man Chun's performance... very bad too. Not one enemy code cracked, just many people killed. In the future, he will look very closely at her doings.Wow. And this is right after his sister humiliated her, too.He doesn't beat about the bush this one. And what was that with him turning the charm on her? You could practically see her knees go week when he got all close to her and said he was "going to trim her wings". Eep!

And then, time to return home - and not to the rebel meeting like initially planned. At home, the servant is super delighted to see the "first young master", but tells him in a hushed voice that his sister wants to see him immediately. Awww, Ah Cheng is concerned for him - and Ming Lou is obviously concerned for himself. He goes to the room she is in ... the family shrine is there. She makes him kneel down and then calls him a traitor for working for the occupiers. So she doesn't know about his secret alter identity?She has power issues this woman. Who makes a grown man kneel like a naughty school boy?

He doesn't even argue, he just tells her he is not a traitor, but she still gets a ... what is that thing? Whip of sorts. Ming Lou basically starts shaking as soon as she touches it. He tries again, explaining that he may well be in the enemy camp, but his heart is with the country. It enrages her even more and she finally hits him, hard, on the left arm. He tries again to justify what he is doing, and she seems a bit mollified (especially by his declaration that he is "her family member") and then says he can prove his good intentions. She is going to Hong Kong, where Ming Tai is, to deposit money into the bank. And to get those two boxes that are held back.

Whoa. She's kind of crazy. I definitely don't like her.

Runa way Ming Lou! No wonder he didn't tell her he was back in town.

She makes her brother sign two special passes she needs to get the goods right then and there. (I wasn't sure, but did it seem to you that the passes were for moving people and not really supplies. So like people smuggling for the anti-Japanese resistance. So they were like travel papers?) But when he tries to find out which fraction she wants to give these medical gifts to, she blocks him, not revealing anything. Later, in his rooms, with a concerned Ah Cheng around him, he says he gave his sister many hints that she did not seem to understand. She must not be an important player in their group. Ah Cheng is concerned though: she is such a public figure! How could she get involved in this! "Oh, why don't you go an persuade her to stop then", Ming Lou adds. Hahahaa, Ah Cheng is terrified. (His face was so cute and funny in his terror) Since it seems they cannot stop her, they just need to keep a good eye on her. Ah Cheng better make sure those are smart men, because if Big Sis finds out they sent people to spy on her ...

So he knows about her, but she doesn't know about him... or anything, really. She's just money for the cause, I guess.

It looks like it. But Ah Cheng's reaction was still interesting. Either he has more than brotherly feelings for this woman or even that little involvement is damn dangerous in the current situation. Or both.

Wang Kai just looked so dapper so many times in this episode. Can I marry him and have super cute babies and dress them up all super cute? Sorry, delusional fangirl came out and I couldn't stop.

The next morning, there is exciting (top secret) news: Poland's Eagle is coming to Hong Kong. A Japanese Parliament elite member, serving as Royal Ambassador (who was sent to Poland once, hence the name). He must die. Ah Cheng says "I will go", but Ming Lou has other plans. He wants "Poison Bee" to hear about it (is that Wasp?). And Ming Tai to do it. TT______TT

Poison Bee was the code name that made me laugh! And right? What IS a Poison Bee, unless it's a wasp or something? Later though, they call him Poisonous Scorpion... (I think that's Ming Tai's code name!) so who knows. But how can Ming Lou make it so that Ming Tai does this? Isn't Ming Tai part of the other organization?

Very good question and one that I thought about as well. This is my explanation: Big Sis is going to HongKong and they better get Ming Tai there pronto - that's in everybody's common interest! So maybe he just thinks that it's the only practical and logical thing to do.

All these code names! We have quite the menagerie of dangerous animals traipsing around. This whole Shanghai resistance better start working together nicely because Ming Tai can't die. Or Ming Lou. Or Ah Cheng. Someone's going to die, right? Ack.

Comments

The Wangs and the Mings are mortal enemies, which causes some Romeo and Juliet situation for Man Chun and Ming Lou ... if Lou really were in love with her. I doubt it - she's a psycho, even though she still knows how to cry. But apparently, there was real affection at some point. Is Airplane Wang, as JoAnne likes to call him, part of the same Wang clan? That would certainly explain the animosity between that Wang and Ming Lou. Whatever it is that happened, the dead Ming Father is the one who said no intermingling of any sort for three generations. That is a very oddly specific decree, don't you think? (I am dying to know what happened, and if it has to do with Man Chun's killing appetite - or caused it - and yes, I wonder if it's the same Wang family.)I wondered about Airplane Wang's connection too. And yes, I hope we get the backstory on the family feud. Those never seem to work out so well.

Anyway, Big Sis is super scary and entirely unlikeable (yes, I get the duty thing! She had to take over at a very young age, but did she really have to hit her brother? She obviously did it often when he was younger, judging by his reaction to that horrid thing). Everybody seems to be either afraid of Ming Ling or thinks that she's not quite right in the head. I am pretty sure that she will be the sweetest person around Ming Tai. She wants to visit Ming Tai in HongKong? Awesome. He seems to love her a lot, but is definitely a bit afraid, too.I wonder a little if because she was 17 when she took over that she overcompensated for having to mother and raise two boys and run the family empire. She's super scary, but maybe that was just how she survived. I really hope that the family figures things out though. They've got some crazy shenanigans going on and it would probably work a bit better if they weren't working in the dark about each other. And I really missed Ming Tai this episode.